The ROI of Gray Hair

What if your next great automotive executive hire is over 55?

Let’s say the quiet part out loud.

When companies call an automotive executive search firm about a dealership leadership opening, they usually have a picture in their mind. Not necessarily a specific person, but a profile. Someone with enough experience to have made mistakes, delivered results, and shown major potential – but still young enough to have plenty of career runway ahead and significant “long-term” upside.

Why Do Dealer Groups Often Favor Executive Candidates 45 and Under?

Whether anyone admits it or not, candidates in their late 30s and 40s often become the unofficial gold standard. And to be fair, there are good reasons for that. They’ve built a track record, they’re ambitious, and companies feel like they have plenty of years ahead of them.

On paper, the logic makes sense – and to be clear, we love those candidates and invest a ton of time into identifying top tier rockstars in that sweet spot.

But after years in dealership executive recruiting, I’ve come to believe that many organizations overlook an incredible segment of the automotive leadership talent market: experienced leaders over 50. In fact, some of the best executive hires I’ve seen have come from this group because they bring judgment, stability, and perspective that can be difficult to find earlier in a career.

Candidates over 50 are motivated by something different.

Why Experienced Automotive Leaders Over 50 May Be an Opportunity Hidden in Plain Sight

Early in their careers, most professionals are still climbing – chasing the next title, the next compensation increase, the next great challenge. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, that’s how careers are built.

But many accomplished leaders later in their careers have already checked a lot of those boxes and moved beyond “chasing the rainbow” in their careers.

They’re looking for a place they can contribute, make an impact, mentor others, maximize their vast experience, and finish their careers strong.

Another obvious concern we hear from hiring managers is future tenure. “If someone is late in their career, how long could they possibly stay?” It’s a fair question, but we think sometimes it misses a larger reality.

Employees Don’t Have the Career Loyalty They Used To

Careers today aren’t marriages anymore. Talented professionals change jobs all the time. Recruiters call, competitors recruit them away, priorities change, new opportunities appear. There’s no guarantee that hiring someone younger means you’ll have them for the next decade and beyond.

In fact, I’ve seen many late-career executives stay with an organization longer than candidates who were hired with “career runway” in mind. This is often because folks later in their careers are more interested in stability, a healthy culture, and autonomy to make impactful decisions where they are instead of chasing a new challenge. At this point in their careers, they often realize that the grass usually isn’t greener elsewhere and they have to make the most of where they are.

Finally, there is the value of the experience itself. The longer we recruit, the more we appreciate how much wisdom comes simply from seeing things before. Someone who has spent thirty years in automotive retail has likely navigated recessions, acquisitions, manufacturer relationships, staffing challenges, dealership operations issues, difficult customers, leadership transitions, and a hundred other situations that don’t show up in an interview guide. They’ve learned which problems actually matter and which ones simply feel urgent in the moment.

That hard-earned experience creates a level of judgement that’s difficult to replicate.

Of course, age alone doesn’t make anyone a great hire. Every candidate should be evaluated the same way: performance, leadership capability, culture fit, references, and results. But in automotive executive search, organizations sometimes eliminate highly qualified dealership management candidates not because they lack ability, but because they’re viewed as “too experienced.”

How Should Dealers Think About Tenure and Executive Placement ROI?

Tenure is an important factor in the ROI of an executive placement, but the highest ROI comes from the person who can make the biggest lasting positive impact on your organization – and often the tenure concern works itself out in the end.

At Malo + Conner, we spend our days in dealership executive recruiting, identifying automotive leadership talent based on proven performance, not assumptions. Sometimes we place the dynamo candidate in their 40’s who checks every box, but we also think it’s a good idea to evaluate all your options with an open mind and a focus on proven results.

If your automotive dealership group is building leadership talent and wants to evaluate the full executive candidate market with an open mind, we’d love to help.